


The Golden Gift

by La_Saffron



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, Backstory, Bribery and Seduction, Deals with Demons, Demons, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fairytales and Lores, Genesis is Reader, Genesis is a Nickname, Infidelity, Kidnapping, M/M, Minor Violence, Monarchy, Some Fluff, Violent Deaths
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-11
Updated: 2017-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-19 16:10:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5973658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/La_Saffron/pseuds/La_Saffron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Italy 1643: (Name), also known as 'Genesis', wanders the Italian regime until she meets a certain dream demon offering her opportunities that she never thought she would agree to. Based loosely off of well-known fairytales, such as 'The Golden Goose', 'The Princess and the Pea', 'Rapunzel', and 'The Little Mermaid'</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Untimely Death

Three women sat in the cold cottage, rubbing their arms and pulling together a thin shawl that was already ripping and conserving no heat. An eerie silence fell around the table as the winter breeze rattled the house’s thin windows. All three sisters were woodcutters, more or less. Being born into a peasant home, all had rough hands except for the youngest. Genesis, they called her, but only relatives knew her real name: (Y/N).

The kitchen was warmer than the rest of the house, so Genesis got up to go make her sisters black coffee. But all the firewood had been used up, and with no more firewood, there was no heat or fire.

The eldest sister sighed. “Well, someone has to go. I’ll do it.”

No one protested. They wrapped her in the warmest clothing they could find, packed her a bottle of wine and the last loaf of bread, and sent her on her way, bidding her a safe trip. The sister trudged through the heavy load of snow, her boots getting wet almost instantly. It was not yet a blizzard and nature glowed in its heavenly white stature. The sister sighed, a breath of fog emitting from her lips, and dragged the heavy ax along.

Finally, she came to a forest where the bark in these trees burned longer and better. She settles upon a medium sized tree, one that would be easy to cut, and gripped the wooden handle with her numb fingers. The woman swung the ax expertly and the iron hit the tree. She chopped away until she was out of breath. Seeing a tree stump not far from herself, she sat down with a groan and rubbed her back. Hunger pains stung her abdomen almost instantly.

She pulled out her lunch and broke the loaf into a piece. She pulled the cork from the wine bottle and took a small swig of the alcohol. This pattern of eating continued no more than a few minutes when the woman heard the crunching of snow next to her. She looked to her right. A man with the strangest attire stood there with a cane and a tall black hat. He was well-dressed with colors consisting of only yellow, black, and white.

What startled her most was his head. The man's hair was half-blond, half-ebony. His right eye was non-existent, covered by a black triangle, and his left eye wide with long lashes and a golden eye. Though he had a cane, he did not limp. He came forward smoothly and smiled widely at the woman. The smile reached his ears, but not in a good way.

“Evening, milady!” he said rather cheerfully. “Nice food you have there, don't you now?”

The woman looked down at her half-eaten lunch. He was asking for the food, but he didn't look or sound too wistful about it. Yet, the man waited patiently, smiles and all. Deciding to ignore the man, she continued to eat her scraps of food and jugged down the rest of her wine. The man stood silent. When she finished, she stood up. “I'm sorry, sir. I can't share my lunch with you. It's gone.”

The man suddenly didn't look so amused. “I see...”

“Well,” the woman threw the empty bottle into the snow and brushed off any remaining crumbs on her dress. “Then begone. Find some other homeless beggar to plead from.”

The man's expression was stoic. Then, he smiled a toothy smirk and bowed, taking his hat and placing it on his chest. “As you wish.” Suddenly, the woman fell to the cold ground in shock. When she got up, the world seemed upright again.

She looked around for the man. But the strange gentleman had mysteriously vanished. Shaking her head, she told herself that it must've been the alcohol and she merely sunk from dizziness. Grasping the ax handle once more, she had newfound strength. She swung too hard, not calculating the consequences of her actions, and the tree groaned as it fell down with a crash.

The ax slipped out of its owner’s tight grip and she sunk into the snow.


	2. Too Severe of a Warning

Eventually, the small cottage grew so cold, the two remaining sisters clutched each other for body warmth. All the rags in the house couldn't provide this much heat, but they used them nonetheless.

“Perhaps we should help her?” Genesis asked her sister. “It is rather cold out there and she may tire out quickly.”

She felt the woman shake her head into her shoulder. “She'll manage. The toughest out of us both. That's why she volunteered, Genesis.”

“But still-” Genesis protested, but was interrupted by a firm knock on the wooden door.

Both women opened the door to reveal a tall old man standing patiently in the doorway. He was dressed lightly, yet he didn't seem to be cold. “Evenin', ladies.”

“How can we help you, sir?” Genesis kindly asked the man.

He wore a worn out patch on his right eye and slowly blinked his left. “Your sister, m'am.”

This perked up their ears. “Yes, is everything alright with her?” Genesis asked anxiously.

“Where is she?” her sister demanded curtly.

The old man licked his cracked lips. “Dead, m'am. Cut down several trees by Dummling Forest, she did. Wood fell down and killed on impact, alright.”

He held out an ax that was frosted by a few drops of red. “All that was found, m'am. Evenin'.” With that, he left.

Genesis slowly closed the door, letting the tragic news sink in. She sat down hard on the wooden floor, not knowing what to say.

Her sister held out the ax, weighing it in her hands. She looked up at the ceiling. “It's cold in here.”

Genesis glanced at her impeccably. “Our sister has died and here you stand, claiming that it is cold? What demon has entered your body to enforce you to say such vile things?” She broke into a small whimper.

The woman glanced down at her cowering sister. She knelt down to meet her eye level. Genesis' watery eyes stared back into her sister's own empty ones.

“Genesis,” she said soft, but firm. “We will freeze to death here. Embracing each other won't do much good for long. I shall go chop down what I can and rush back here safely.”

“You must stay and nourish yourself as much as you can wile I am away.” She hugged her last sister and she did so in return.

Genesis whispered. “Please come back. Promise me.”

Her sister pulled back ad looked her in the eye. “I swear it on my life.”

 

She didn't know which way her late sister had gone, for there were many tracks in the snow, so she left in the direction that best suited her intuition.

After a few minutes of marching through the snow, she came to a piece of woods where it was clear that a forest fire had erupted here a few months back, but did not have enough time to re-grow due to the quick and bitter winter.

She shivered. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. But last night, she had made an oath to bring warmth to Genesis within a short while and that is was she was set on doing.

When she a handful of wood, she sat down to eat. Genesis prepared her a few scraps of cold salami and a jug of beer. Not the best she had had, but she needed energy, so taste had no relevance to her.

A noise startled her.

When she looked up, a strangely dressed man stood in front of her with a disturbing smile and only one large eye. Hardly paying any attention to him, she continued to chew her meat and indulge some beer quietly, as if she hadn't noticed him at all.

She heard him come forward, snow crunching softly under his booted feet, and his cane following like a third appendage. He leaned on it and cocked his head eerily.

“Hello there!” he exclaimed optimistically. He eyed her nearly-finished food. “Mind sharing some of that, missus?”

She bit into her meat. “Leave me alone. If I give you food, then I shall be left with none. I share my food with nothing and no one. I need energy, so begone.” she said rather sourly.

He looked calmly over to the tree she was sitting in front of. She had stuck her ax into the tree and it implanted itself quite deeply, but the woman thought nothing of it. Now, as the man stared, the ax somehow got a mind of its own and cut slowly into the tree quietly. The wood groaned and weakened.

“Looks like that tree is going to crash sometime today,” he commented.

The woman glanced up from her jug. “It'll fall the other side.”

He raised an eyebrow while casually leaning on his black cane. “Oh, really?”

“Leave.” This was an order.

He smiled sinisterly and then vanished. The woman looked around in confusion. She hadn't heard of him leaving nor were there any tracks in the snow. He simply disappeared like he was made of thin air.

She shook her head slowly, disbelieving the week she's had so far. Death of a sister and then this strange mirage man. It must've been the beer.

Looking back towards the tree she sat in front of, she cautiously stared at the iron imbedded in the bark. It was too late to move now. She was heavily intoxicated with the beer and felt too sleepy to get up.

The tree gave way without warning and crashed down upon her bent over form. All that remained was the cursed ax and the red meat in a blue hand that never moved again.  
~~~~

Forget it.

There was no way Genesis could “nourish” herself here at the cottage, which was probably colder than nature itself. She had planned to bring the last scraps of food she could find and secretly follow her sister's path at a distance.

All Genesis found was a small cake baked with water and a stale jug of ale.

Throwing the heaviest blanket she had over her shoulder, she opened the door to find the same old man standing in the doorway, like he had been waiting there for hours.

Genesis jumped back a bit. “Sir! You startled me!”

The man smiled strangely at her reaction, showing off an array of golden teeth. “S'alright, m'am. I have important news from the Sherr Woods.”

The young woman paled. Although she had only met him last night, she immediately understood that he was not the good news-bearer.

“That's right, m'am.” He nodded, almost reading her thoughts with her. “Crashing with the red, she did. Killed on impact. I'd beware going to 'em heavily populated timber woods.”

“Oh...” Genesis leaned against the doorpost, her eyes in a glaze. She tried to look up to the old man's queerly tall figure.

He held out an object that was all too familiar now. She took it from him a little shakily. As she grasped the heavy object, her cold fingers accidentally laced around his bony warm ones.

She pulled back, embarrassed. “F-forgive me, I-I didn't mean to--”

He raised a large wrinkled hand, though he snickered at her reaction. “No need, child. I understand your motives.”

The peasant girl shifted. “Well, um, yes. Would you by any chance know an area for good pulp not too far from this that happens to not be doomed? I do not wish to die.”

The old man's laugh sadistically echoed through the early morning air. Then, still chuckling, he turned and pointed a greasy finger to their right. “Timber pulp. Go straight until you see the wooden shack with a locked door. Once you cut 'em trees down, break the gold open. Pray you shan't open it until after ya got 'em timber stacked. Rest there.”

He looked back towards the beautiful woman and eyed her hungrily. “Beware of strange men, lass. Them boys around there can be mighty tricky.”

“Especially after such a beauteous and pristine lass as you.”

Genesis tried to smile, but something about this man just didn't fit his warning. She knew how to self-defend if she had to, yet he eyed her as a cat would to its next mouse for dinner.

“Thank you,” she shivered, both from cold and from fright of this man. “You've b-been very kind.”

He tipped his cap while smiling disturbingly. “G'day, lass.” He turned around and limped towards the forest.

Genesis rubbed the ax, thinking what else she was missing to say to him. Then she called out, “Excuse me, sir?”

He turned around a little too quickly, like he'd been expecting her to call him. His hazel eye gleamed in the morning sun.

“I bid your name?”

The old man smiled mysteriously. “Don't worry, lass. I promise I shall see you soon enough. As for my name, you shall find out for thyself out at the shack.”

Genesis nodded and looked down at the cursed weapon. She didn't know what he meant by that, but when she looked up again, the man had vanished without a trace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sick af. W H Y


	3. The Mystery Shack

The young woman set off in the same direction the old man had told her about. Soon enough, she found a ruined wooden home chained heavily with triangular golden locks. An eye embroidered the middle of each lock and Genesis had the feeling that they were watching her every move.

She distracted herself from the locks and turned her attention to the timber across the abode. A whole line of fresh , young trees were there waiting for sharp iron to slice them. Genesis worked until her shoulders felt sore. Every once in awhile, she glanced behind her, as if someone was watching her. But nothing was there besides for snow and the cool winter breeze.

Or so she convinced herself to think so.

 

Poor Genesis. She lost two of sisters within two days and had no time to mourn for their coincidental, yet tragic deaths. But none of this idleness was on her mind as she worked till noon, just to keep her body from succumbing to hypothermia.

The movement kept her a bit warm, but she needed to stack wood for warmth in that suspicious shack, just like the man promised her.

It was still cloudy and dark outside, even though it was half past noon. After chopping down seven young trees, Genesis nearly passed out. She was famished and dragged herself to the shack, cracking her knuckles. Much to her dismay, she remembered it was padlocked fully with heavy gold locks. She would have to use her hefty ax.

Sighing heavily, she picked up the annoying object and used the last of her strength to bring it down upon the tightly wound chains. Effortlessly, as if the chains were made of fiber, they snapped away and the marble colored door opened with a breeze, inviting the weary girl inside its comforting embrace. The girl gladly accepted and nearly fell inside.

The door shut softly behind her. Genesis lay down and exhaled on her blue-tipped fingers as she threw the ax to the side. Surprisingly, the shack was very warm despite the cracks in the walls and windows. After regaining some body heat, Genesis felt sleepy. Unraveling her blanket that curled around her neck, she placed it rather unevenly around her form and lilted off to a deep sleep.

 

After blinking her eyes open, Genesis eventually won the battle between her heavy eyelids, cooing her to go back to sleep and rubbed her sockets. Sitting up, she stretched until she heard a chorus of bones cracking and let go with a satisfied sigh.

The woman sat for a moment or so before getting up to build a fire. She stepped out into the bitter cold for no more than three minutes as she grabbed a few frosted logs and tossed them inside. Shutting the door briskly, she shuddered briefly and made her way groggily towards the clustered logs. After putting them in an arranged order, she took a spare match out of her breast pocket and lit the logs on fire. It took several attempts, but she finally managed to ignite the wood.

Rubbing her hands together, Genesis pulled out her sack of cake and the nearly broken jug of stale ale. She wasn't in the mood to eat anything disgusting, but she had no choice, other than hunger pains or death.

She nimbly broke off a crumbling piece of the badly baked cake and chewed cautiously. To her surprise, it was not as bad as she thought it was. She smiled as she remembered her mother's old saying, “Do not judge thy neighbor by his appearance.” In this case, it was food. Another taste of the stale drink gave her a surge of energy. It bubbled excitedly in her mouth as she swallowed. Again, tis was not as bad as it seemed to be, and she was thankful for this.

Suddenly, a bold knock broke onto the creaking door.

~~~~

Genesis froze while chewing her cake. The old man had warned her about strange men wandering around the woods, looking for women to trick. Would this be one of them?Nevertheless, she bravely called out, “Enter!”

And the mysterious guest did so. He was so fascinating that Genesis must've stared for a while.

A tall, rather handsome man with blond bangs and shiny ebony hair strode proudly through the door. His outfit was most dashing, consisting of the colors yellow, black, and white. His walking cane was glowing a golden aura with his long gloved fingers clasping onto the object loosely. He smiled widely and approached her fire with a suave expression written over his striking features. The door shut behind him with a loud slam of its own mind. Genesis jumped up a bit at the unexpected noise.

She stood nervously. “Oh, I am so sorry, is this your residency? I didn't mean to intrude, ther-”

The man laughed sadistically. “Oh, not to worry, bambola. You're welcome here anytime you wish. This place does have a special meaning to me.” He eyed her the same way the old man had when describing her beauty. That's when she noticed the man's right eye was covered by his bangs. Yet, when they lifted up, a black triangle covered the area to where his eye should've been. His left one was glowing a beautiful golden iris.

He flicked the tall hat above his head. “What do you have there, hmm? Ooh, cake and ale, my favorite!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Genesis broke her gaze from the man and gestured to the spot to where she formerly sat. “Would you like to have a bite of my share? Come, what's mine is yours. Eat your fill.”

The man raised his inky eyebrows, as if he wasn't expecting this response. Almost as quickly as it had come, the man's confusion has disappeared and a haughty expression appeared on his features. “Well, I certainly hope what you mean, bambola!”

He slid next to her and grabbed some of cake that sat on the brown sack it was carried around in while Genesis sat beside him, picking at the crumbs. She was polite in letting him eat more quantity of food than her starving stomach that hadn't eaten in over twelve hours. They ate in some silence, except for the man's loud munching noises. He wasn't a pig, but he certainly didn't act as well as he dressed. Occasionally, he mock-offered her a piece of crumbling cake and yet, she took it with the utmost politeness.

Aptly, they took turns swigging from the cracked and rusty jug of ale, but it was the man that finished it mostly and when he handed it to her it was empty. His sadistically smile showed that was indeed a rude person. Eventually, he had finished Genesis' entire lunch and though she didn't say it, she was just as hungry as before. The man wiped his lips with a triangle shaped handkerchief and brushed the crumbs off of his black thin legs. “Well, that was a mighty fine meal, don't you think?”

Genesis smiled. “I'm glad you enjoyed it.”

“Heard what happened to your sisters,” he said. “What a shame. They could have been great vessels.”

Genesis stared at him. “Vessels?”

The man nodded, as if he couldn't do anything about it, and threw the handkerchief behind him. It unfolded mid-air, revealing a triangle with one giant eye in the middle and a bowtie below it, a conduct similar to the stranger's. It disappeared with a small 'pop'.

“Tell me, though,” he asked curiously with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “Why give your only food to a stranger whom you've never met and probably should not trust?”

Genesis looked away shyly. “I suppose, with all due respect, that it is simply an intuition. I can see if someone has a good heart enough for me to be partners or not. Perhaps I felt that there.”

“Hmm.” the man mused. This girl was different than her sisters or anybody he's ever met for sure. She was generous and kind, traits some humans didn't usually have consistently in them. How gullible. “Oh!” Genesis suddenly exclaimed, as if remembering something she wished to say, suddenly bringing the man out of his thoughts. “I beg your pardon. May I ask of your title, sir?”

“Well, you had no problem 'begging' me before, so why ask now?”

The woman looked taken aback. “Forgive my memory, sir, but I have no recollection of bidding you of your name any time before now!”

The man peered at her. Of course, she didn't know yet and he figured he had to be patient until then. He wasn't one to be patient, apparently, but nonetheless, if he wanted his plan to work, he needed to activate this ridiculous trait.

“Of course not. My mistake.” He took her delicate hand and brought it to his lips. “The name is Bill Cipher, bambola.” he cooed. Genesis smiled at the gesture. “I am called Genesis.”

Bill knew this already, but spoke none if it. “Genesis...perfect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bill is a hoe. End of story.


	4. The Deal

He looked down at her hand, rubbing her smooth knuckles with his gloved thumb. “Not much of a peasant, are you?” he chuckled at her strangely soft complexion that was not at all peasant-like. “I don't work much. I am a peasant, though. I was born into a household of hard-working people, but still, I don't have a rough complexion as my...family.”

Bill laughed sadistically. He released her hand. “Family! Hah, what comedy!”

Genesis smiled a bit, but looked down, ashamed. Bill noticed none of it. He leaned on his left arm and stared at her, batting his long eyelashes. “Say, do you enjoy my company, bambola?” The drooping woman looked up slowly, locking eye with the strange man. He showed both arrays of pristine white teeth, despite his last messy meal he had with her, revealing a scary side to his character.

“Yes.” Genesis spoke. “Yes, I think I do in a way.” She finally answered after some muse.

She pulled her thin blanket around her round shoulders despite the blazing fire softly crackling in front of her. “I have no one left for my company anymore.” Her sigh was so heart-breaking any sane heart would’ve tugged strings at the sound. Bill pursed his lips in thought. This human girl was lonely and desperate for a piece of companionship. Perhaps he could be…persuasive. The more he thought about it, the more it pleased him.

“You know,” he pulled himself closer to the woman, their shoulders grazing. “I may be able to change all of your dilemmas.”

Genesis brought her eyes to him. “You can? But how?” He smiled widely and held out his hand. A blue flame enveloped his gloved hand instantly. The woman’s eyes widened. “A deal, bambola.”

Genesis’ eyes glowed with a strange hunger. “Will…will that fire harm me?”

Bill scoffed. “Why, of course, not! But--”

Suddenly, he felt his hand being pulled towards Genesis in a slightly urgent matter. Her frozen fingers clasped his aflame hand and held it tightly. She placed his hand against her rosy cheek and sighed in content. Genesis cuddled into the warm substance and brought her free hand up to intertwine her fingers with Bill. He blinked. What was she doing? He had merely extended his hand to shake a deal with her, not for her to become intimate against it in such a manner that didn’t suit her gentle and modest character.

“I—oh, it’s so warm…mmm, ah,” Genesis mumbled in a low octave as her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

Oh, so she was warming herself. But still, he was a bit uncomfortable with this position. Her moans of happiness and actions of sensuality, though she didn’t mean it, brought a strange feeling upon his body. He wasn’t regularly a human. Actually, this was one of the first times he had used his vessel for meeting humans, since their pathetic minds couldn’t handle his true form. He didn’t know about the heavy and usually known consequences of the human body.

What was it? He didn’t like it, that was for sure, but his body thought otherwise. It disobeyed his cruel orders and paid no attention to what he wanted. Curse it. Did he somehow find her appealing? Yes, the woman was beautiful, but none of this was of any relevance before then. Eventually, she pulled away, her eyes half-lidded. She dropped his hand and Bill rubbed it slowly.

She sniffed and exhaled, the mucus from her nostrils gone. “I apologize. What were you saying?” she asked him through her eyelashes. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “I was going to...make a deal with you.” He clutched his hand a little protectively. He did not want the same encounter to happen again. No, he didn’t need any of that nonsense again.

Genesis’ eyes opened up a bit, her dilated pupils going back to their regular size. “A deal? Whatever for?” Her cheeks began to lose their rosy color as confusion spread over her healthier looking face. After the encounter with the flames, her lips returned to their normal color and her face opened up. Bill stared at her face. His sub-consciousness angrily commanded his eye to stop looking at her plump lips, but they promptly disobeyed. His golden iris slowly disappeared as his slit-like pupil dilated. Unintentionally, he began to lean closer to the beautiful girl, who stared at the man’s strange actions.

“Bill?” she said softly, snapping him out of his trance. He froze and blinked slowly. His eye met her (e/c) ones and curiosity sparked between the couple. Not sure of what exactly, but they definetly enjoyed every moment of it. 

Except for Bill. He stopped their soft gaze and remembered what she asked him before she cast her spell on him. Stupid she-devil.

The thought of his master plan including the deal got him excited, startling Genesis and him as well. “Yes! You see, my dear, I have very special abilities that make me different from all other men you have met in this dimension alone.” He looked at her eyes, instead of her face as a whole. He learned a while ago that humans felt uncomfortable when in toto eye contact was established. “ I have certain things that I may bring about in ways you simply cannot begin to imagine. Very, very certain abilities.” he drawled out.

Much to his chagrin, Genesis did not look in any way uncomfortable by his intimidating eye contact. Rather, she seemed to bore into his very soul (if he had one at all) with her glowing (e/c) stare. “Such as making fire illusions?” she hardly sounded surprised.

Bill felt a twinge of anger, yet at the same time, he was impressed. Genesis was as truthful as him when it came to revealing emotions. She did not pretend to show a false emotion just to be ‘polite’. “You are not too impressed by that, but yes; I can do much more than simply making a flame erupt in my palm.”

“Is is witchcraft that you do?”

Utter disgust spread over his striking features. “Witchcraft? Do I look like an infant to be toying with dolls of some sort? No! What I do is far more intricate than megere human play.”

Genesis peered at him in thought. Yes, she did suspect him to be a wizard of some sort, oddly dressed, but the way he talked about humans...like he wasn’t.

“Why do you speak of human race as if you are not?” Her expression made it clear that she was highly skeptical.

Bill cackled rather echoey. “Simply because I am not, bambola! I suppose you could assume that I am from far, far away. Farther than anyplace you can think of.”

“Yes,” Genesis frowned at this statement of his. “But, you certainly look human.”

He snorted rudely. “Me? No, I merely use this nasty meatbag to appeal for the better. Human eyes cannot accept my true form as they are not exposed to the supernatural yet. You cannot handle it. Value your sanity.” he snickered. “While you can.”

Genesis should’ve listened. She should’ve kept her pretty mouth shut and simply nod. But alas, as the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. “Well, why not? I’m sure your true form shan’t be as bad as you make it seem. Mama always taught us, ‘Do not judge thy neighbor by his outward appearance.’ Don’t you abide by the same moral code?”

Bill sighed exasperated. “ As I have relayed before, I am not human. I do not abide by your useless codes. They have of no meaning to me. Listen well, my form in all its beastiality is not for the pure eyes of a woman like you.” He paused hesitantly. He definitely sounded sincere in protecting her sanity. But only for his plans not to be ruined too soon. Yes, a well-spoken justification.

Genesis smiled. “Perche no, it cannot be that bad. I’m also not as pure as I used to be. I can handle it.”

The handsome supernatural looked at her. His golden iris overwhelmed his pupil until it formed a frightening slit. Genesis shifted away from him a bit. He spoke quietly, but unbeknownst to her, his body began to glow a bright red. “Would you risk your sanity for a foolish whim, child?”

The woman stared at his strange eye and his bright red body. Something was not right. Was he supposed to be doing that? Not knowing what to expect, Genesis slowly shook her head. As if reacting to her action, his pupil re-dilated itself back to normal and his body regained its natural color.

She sounded sorry, but she kept a small smile, like she was amused by his angry reaction to her small request. “Forgive me. I meant not to make you angry. I understand your powers and what they may do to the universe, Bill Cipher.”

Crud, his full name as she knew it sounded strange on her tongue. He hoped she wouldn’t appeal to him in any way beyond this point. He hoped with all his little black heart. But he knew this prayer of his would be in vain. Once he fell, he fell deep. There was no escaping this woman’s charm, but who said he couldn’t toss in a bit of his own immortal charm? His optimistic mood hopped right back into character. “Good! Now, where were we? Ah, yes.” He hesitated for a moment, but outstretched his hand, not aflame. “I wish to seal a bond with you.”

“Whatever for?” Genesis asked, a twinge of sourness coating her tone. “I have nothing left, so there is no need to bond with a stranger with whose character I have never encountered before.”

Her bitter tone enlightened Bill as he began to laugh lightly. Such a young child. What does she know about strangers? Yet, she acted as if she knew much when dealing with men she has never met before. He was beginning to like her character and their conversation grew more interesting to him. He was now curious to what she was going to say, despite his imminent knowledge of telepathy.

Bill tsked, shaking his thin finger at her and nodding his head from side to side. “Poor darling. Whatever do you know about bonding with your fellow Italians? Don’t you know about your ‘moral codes’, as you call it? Friendship is all you need to pass through life’s burdens! I suggest you do the same as well, since you have none left.”

Her eyes narrowed. She was liking this man less and less. He hid many information from her and Genesis feared she’d never find out. Bill was annoying in trying to make himself sound more knowledgeable than he really was.

“And why would you do that?” she asked, totally unimpressed at his ‘knowledge’. She made her voice sound like she didn’t trust his deals, or him, for that matter. He understood her tone and it fed his insignificant ego.

But his smile disappeared momentarily. He sighed, “I haven’t seen my family in a while. I have been separated from my friends and close comrades. I wish to see them again. If you could help me, I would just be so…”

“Happy?”

“Yes, happy!" 

Genesis sighed. He did sound very wistful, but who was she to know that Bill wasn’t a person to be trusted. She relented, not noticing Bill’s growing smirk from what he caused her to think.

“Very well,” Genesis replied reluctantly. “I shall help you. But first, I have my own conditions to make.”

Bill’s sadness disappeared as fast as it had come and smiled widely. “Yes, bambola?”

Genesis nearly flinched at the pet name she should’ve been used to, but continued her part of the deal. “I am lonely. I have nothing to live for without a companion. And that’s all a woman needs in her desolate life, correct?”

Bill smiled knowingly. Without realizing it, Genesis had just revealed a major compartment of his master plan concerning her. He let her continue, thinking he knows where she’s going with her deal. “Yes, darling.”

“You are that companion for me.” Genesis emphasized to him. “I need your presence where I am , whenever I want, wherever I need you. Understand?”

Bill opened his mouth to reply, but he stopped when her words sank in and actually made sense to him. Her companion? What was he, a dog to follow it master wherever and whenever the master wanted it to? She made it sound like she wanted to be in charge of him. Well, she was wrong in thinking so. It would be him that would control this pathetic woman, if anything.

But he could make this work somehow. Seduce the girl perhaps...no, that’ll have to wait. He sensed her uncomfortable emotions with his conduct, so he had to make the bird simply walk into the lion’s jaws. Playing cool for now. simply playing cool.

Bill smiled after his thoughts. “Yes...yes, I suppose I could handle that. What about you? Do you intend to stay to my side of the deal?” The man tempted her with questions she didn’t know whether to lie to or not.

But as a deal’s a deal. She extended her hand reluctantly to which Bill eagerly grabbed and bobbed up and down. 

“Deal.” They said simultaneously, one eager, and the other absolutely terrified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoe with a bow. Why do I keep singing that?


	5. The Darkness through Light

When she released his hand, she found a ring enclosing around her index finger, sinking to the bottom. A triangle shaped diamond glittered in the fire’s bright light and when turned, small eyes blinked at every crack and cut.

Bill removed his spidery black fingers from hers as he gently laid his hand on her wrist and held her. “This,” he gestured to the ring. “Is your reward for having a kind heart. It is also to contact me whenever and wherever you may need me when feeling bereft of my presence.” he said quite arrogantly at the last part regarding his presence.

Genesis ignored his growing haughtiness and gasped slightly at the ring to which she spread her fingers wide to glance at the jewel more carefully. She smiled softly at the gift and then at the unsuspecting man. “Thank you so much, Bill.” she whispered.

There it was again. Curse that feeling.

He smiled in spite of his discomfort with her former words. So far, his plan was working perfectly well. All he needed was the time to pass and his wishes would become a reality.

“Well, I’m afraid I must be off,” he said rather urgently. “So much to do, and such little time to fulfill.” He stood up and another well-decorative cane appeared in his hand. Genesis didn’t know what to make of this handsome man’s abilities, but there were many sorcerers in Italy that had traveled around in Venice. She was used to them.

He held out a gloved hand to the young woman. She reached out and grasped onto his hand as Bill pulled her up. He tugged her close and their faces were close. She could see his eye clearly now. It was a golden iris with strings of black and red that could’ve been mistaken for a golden crystal.

Bill beamed at her as he kissed her hand softly. “Remember our deal, (Y/N).” he whispered to her. Genesis looked down and fiddled with her brown dress shyly until she realized...he said her real name. She looked up quickly, but a warm gust of wind blew by and Bill was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Name) stared down at her new gift while she warmed up by the fire. It was interesting to look at how delicate the ring was, should she ever set it down somewhere. She smiled. No, she wasn’t ever going to take it off. It was a gift, and a beautiful one at that so why should she?

The cottage suddenly became colder at the thought of the mysterious man and (Name) shivered slightly, curling her body into a ball near the glowing amber. The fire wasn’t dying, but if she didn’t feed it soon, the light wouldn’t do her any good to warm her up.

Reluctantly, she got up and dug her hands into each other to create some kind of friction before she walked out into the chilling cold. The door of the cottage swung open and a bone-chilling wind rattled her teeth. (Name) ran outside quickly and grabbed a few heavy logs to toss into the abode.

(Name) grabbed the handle of the door and slammed it shut against her back. She stood for a few seconds trying to catch her breath. She could’ve sworn she heard a chuckle somewhere in the room, but when she whipped her head up to look around, no one was there.

(Name) kicked one of the cold logs into her fire, when she noticed a corridor of more rooms in the cottage. What was illuminated now she hadn’t seen before, even when she first came in. Curiously, she made her way down the dim hallway where five rooms laid themselves before her to choose from.

(Name) wasn’t afraid of the dark, or any insects, unlike the women back in the village. Death had captured her two sisters, so perhaps she was next. Who cared? She certainly didn’t. No one would mourn her anyways. All she wanted was to die happy.

The peasant woman slipped into the first room on her right. Very clean and tidy room, no dust as she had expected, though. Maybe this was someone’s home. It didn’t matter though, she lived in it now. Temporarily.

She walked around the circular room and touched some old paintings of a man with a long lanky body and a blindfold covering his face. The blindfold was covered in teeth and the man’s smile was...GIANT. (Name) had never seen a man with such a smile, even Bill stood under him with a man’s widest smile. Another thing about him: his teeth were larger than normal and should he ever attempt to close his mouth, he would fail.

The next painting was of a woman whose complexion was a pink pigment. Her hair was jaw length and also of a magenta color, but her second eye was covered with the colored bangs. (Name) stared in disgust at this woman. She definitely didn’t approve of her choice of hair. How did she even get that pigment? What a strange choice. Giant horns jutted out of her temples and her arms and legs flaming with white inferno.

(Name) scrunched her nose up in confusion and moved on. This painting was larger than the other two. It was also much scarier than the other two humanoid monsters. This “man” was light green and his eyes...black instead of beautiful white sclera and glowing yellow pupils that were actually hovering balls of, eight? This monster had chains around his ankles and wrists and looked like he was roaring to be released from his prison. Blood red clouds surrounded him as his claws gripped the air in desperation.

A chill ran through her. She began to realize that these creatures that appeared to be human were not human at all. They were monsters, just like Bill, extraterrestrial beings that come only to cause chaos in any dimension available. (Name) had to get out of that room, not daring to look at anymore paintings. She’d have nightmares for days.

She ran out of the room quickly, as if someone was following her. (Name) felt the eyes from the paintings behind her stared after her figure and somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard a low chuckle, nothing like Bill’s. Bill had a high-pitched voice, yet this man seemed to be an exact copy of his laughter, except for the deep octave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you kinda meet the in-laws
> 
> Ha, I kid xD


	6. Who He Really Is

(Name) ran into the adjoining room, hoping to escape the horrors she’d just witnessed. It was just a painting, she told herself as she tried to catch her breath. Strangely, this part of the shack seemed to go even deeper, despite its small and narrow size from when she first entered. And it grew warmer as she drew closer to the center.

 

(Name) looked around her. She had stepped into a hallway lit with dim torches with golden and red carpets that embroidered the floor of the hall. It seemed old, but the air was clean and fresh, as if someone had just tidied up the place before her.

 

The girl frowned. This was the strangest place she had ever been in. It was rather terrifying, too. Everywhere she went, the rickety old shack she took for to be a mere shed seemed to shift into a living hallway of mysteries and horrors.

 

And someone was watching her, too.

 

She felt eyes on her at all times. (Name) turned around slowly to glance over her shoulder and the doorway she had entered through suddenly grew a door out of nowhere and slammed behind her, pushing the frightened girl in a sharp jolt forward.

 

She gasped and scrambled away from the door in fright, ripping the hem of her raggedy brown peasant dress. (Name) waited a few moments for something to happen, but it was as if the door had always been there and she was simply hallucinating the entire ordeal.

 

(Name) swallowed and looked at her new gift. It glowed dimly in the dark, the eyes in every crack blinking slowly like they were trying to process the situation along with her. She smiled faintly and rubbed the crystal between her index and thumb finger.

 

Eccentric enough, the ring given by that strange man-- what was his name, ah, Bill Cipher-- comforted her to a certain extent in this maddening shack. (Name) pursed her dry lips. Should she call him? Even so, what good would he be in this sort of place? He was a demon trapped in his own dimension and he did bid of her assistance with helping him get to his universe.

 

The entire thing confused the poor girl. All this universe business, demons, and peculiar homes; it was all too much for her. (Name) lifted her eyes towards the dark hallway. She was foolishly curious, a trait within her since birth, and wondered what lay beyond the depths of the hallway.

 

She reminded herself that she had nothing to lose anyways, since her immediate family was all but lost to Death himself, so she ventured forth. Pushing herself up by her palms and brushing herself off, she lifted a wooden torch from its handle and peered into the blackness.

 

(Name) thrust the flame gently in front of her, so the light would guide her steps lest there be a dangerous object in the way. After all, she could never count on this ever-changing, illusionary abode.

 

Taking small steps forward, (Name) eventually got the courage to walk a bit faster, but still kept a watchful eye in front of her. Whilst doing so, (Name) lifted the torch to explore the walls of the stretching hallway. Nothing much interested her, except for the strange emblems scratched across the cypress surface of the torches. Other than that, the walls were bare and implied a peculiar melon shade.

 

Suddenly, (Name) froze. Breathing was heard in the quiet hallway and perhaps throughout the entire shack. Hard, heavy, and struggling breaths enveloped the sound around the peasant girl. It sounded like a person who was having a difficult time staying alive.

 

(Name) did the right choice. She ran forward.

 

When she came to the end of the hallway, a spine-chilling sight beheld her. An old man, frail and ready to break at the slightest touch, sat bedraggled and beaten with his skinny hands chained aligning to his head, which hung so low (Name) was sure the bones that held it up had snapped. Blood caked his torn clothing and an eye-patch stretched weakly across his right eye. Golden chains held up his wrists with triangular emblems carved into the shackles and his shoes were missing, revealing his frozen, purple feet.

 

The aged man shivered despite the warmth around (Name). He was dying, no doubt, but (Name) could not understand why the man was half-frozen when she was so comfortable and rosy. She nearly dropped her torch and knelt next to the man.

 

“Oh, my!” (Name) quickly undid her warm, yet thin, shawl and wrapped it around the man’s bony shoulders. “What happened, sir?”

 

The old man lifted his head weakly and gazed at her through his hazel eye. (Name) gasped. It was the man that held the news of her sisters’ death and warned her of the shack. But why was he here? And in this condition, no less? Who had bound him so cruelly?

 

His once bright and lively eye was now dim with death. “Water.” he croaked hoarsely.

 

(Name) nodded and quickly whipped her head around to search for the one thing she was escaping: ice. Fortunately enough, there were a few icicles hanging in the warm room and she plucked them to bring them closer to her torch. The ice flowed into the half-broken canister of gone ale and melted into blessed water.

 

Slowly, (Name) poured the cold water into the man’s weak jaw by little droplets, so as not to choke him more than necessary. After a few shifts of pouring the water into his mouth and heating his body with the torch as gently as she could, the aged man seemed more lively than in his previous state.

 

He blinked his eye slowly and glanced around himself with very slight movements of his weak neck. The man looked back at the waiting girl. “It’s you.” he whispered simply, with little to no emotion.

 

(Name) smiled slightly, happy that he was one step farther from Death’s hands. “Yes, thank you, sir. Your advice was very helpful to me in the long run. This shack saved me from the bitter cold.”

 

His white eyebrows furrowed sluggishly. “The shack..”

 

“Yes, this shack...is it not yours, sir?”

 

“The shack…” the man closed his eye, then shot it open. “You! How could you!”

 

Startled, (Name) jolted out of her smile. “Sir?”

 

“Foolish girl! Have you entered the shack?”

 

Biting her lip, (Name) reminded herself to be patient, but then again, this man seemed to be more sane than her. “Sir, we are in the shack at this moment...is something wrong?”

 

Struggling weakly against his chains, he mumbled in a fit of rage, streams of Italian curses exiting his mouth. “Agh, si stupido idiota contadina!” he sputtered through the few teeth that were golden.

 

He fixed his eye into her own (e/c) ones. (Name) felt frightened by this sudden rage. He was the one who guided her to the shelter. Perhaps he was upset that she entered without notifying him first?

 

“Who did you meet on your way here?” the old man spat out. (Name) swallowed hard. She didn’t want the old man to die of heart stress, but her tongue betrayed her mind.

 

“A m-man entered and I-I let him eat my food--”

 

“WHAT?!” the old man roared into the narrow hallway, shaking the torches lit in the hallway. (Name)’s eyes stung with tears, but she commanded them not to fall. She bit her tongue and dug her nails into his palm, waiting till the smooth skin there would break.

 

He fell back exhausted, heaving greatly. (Name) waited for him to catch his breath and settled the torch in her hand onto the floor, hoping it wouldn’t ignite anything.

 

“What was his name?” he growled quietly, so softly (Name) barely caught his tone. 

 

A painful long silence passed before the words rolled off of her tongue and brought the shack to a lively state for a moment before settling into the uncanny darkness and mystery as before.

 

“Bill Cipher.”

 

(Name) waited for him to erupt again, but the man stayed silent. For a moment, she was afraid he died from the mention of the name. After a few heavy moments, the old man began to visibly breathe again, but it was almost too slow for (Name) to catch.

“Why…” he mumbled. “Do you know what you have done?”

(Name)’s eyes spilled a few stray tears, but they instantly froze on her warm face. She paid no attention to this and tried to answer the man honestly, but she feared for his condition...and her future. “What?” she asked fearfully, thinking this old man knew more than her deal, even if he was not present.

He lifted his bloody neck upwards and his hazel eye met her teary gaze. She shivered despite being warm. This man scarily resembled Bill Cipher; hazel eye, deep gaze, and that all-knowing glare. Good Lord, he wasn’t...it couldn’t be…

“You have sealed your doom with the dream demon, lass.” the aged man coughed, blood coming in balls of saliva. “He will rid this world of happiness, envelop it in chaos, and you will regret your ‘kindness’ to such a stranger.”

(Name) didn’t blink for a few minutes. Her breath nearly stopped. “He...he isn’t the Devil?” she asked quietly.

His hazel eye flared. “If de Devil had a Master other dan de Lord Himself, and de Devil feared and hated de new Master, it would be dat wretched demon!” the old man roared hoarsely.

(Name)’s beautiful eyes wept emotionlessly. “How do you know all of this, sir?”

The man sighed, but choked on his own blood. (Name) quickly slipped a few cool drops of melted ice into the man’s mouth, quenching his dry lips. He rested his breath for a moment before continuing to speak. “I made a deal with de Devil himself..dat demon, Bill Cipher, is de charismatic one I bewore ye of this morning…”

It took a moment to click. “You were possessed, were you not? That is what demons do, correct?”

“Yes.” A shaky breath. “He tortured me, dat one, an’ he chained me here for ye to find.” The man lost his teeth mysteriously over the past few minutes and it became harder for him to speak. His hands slowly rusted into particles and if he lifted his head just right, the emblem of a three sided figure marked itself on his wrinkled forehead.

“Sir!” (Name) cried, a bit frightened. “Your body!”

He looked down slowly, as if in no rush, and looked back up at the weeping girl. “Do not cry, child. You can trick dat devil, still. Ye be a smart and clever woman. Dat is why God created de female so cheeky. She coax Adam into eating the fruit of Knowledge and so can you.”

He smiled, his teeth outlined by rich red, or whatever was remaining of the bones on his mouth. “De demon will not last long in his body. He must ascend to his former prison. Stall him, child. Play along with his plans, but do not let thyself be swayed by his smooth words.”

(Name) let out a huge sob, finally releasing emotion from her tears that fell like waterfalls. The old man smiled in pain. “Dey called me Pierro, lass. Or dey used to before I go mad with de demon.”

(Name) cried. “What will b-become of you? Will you die because of me?” A heart wrenching sob escaped her trembling lips and for the first time in that hour, she felt cold again.

Pierro smiled with his bloody teeth and in that moment despite his ugly and disheveled appearance, he looked very kind and soft. “Child, what is your name?” he asked kindly.

(NAME) sobbed before wiping her wet eyes and answering the old man in broken gulps of tears. “My n-name is G-genesis, but t-they call m-me (N-name),” she managed to wrench out of her tightening throat. She knew that if she was called by her birth name by strangers, they would come for her again. Those black men with the deep red eyes…

Pierro coughed. “Listen, Genesis. You are part of de demon’s plan to eradicate dis world of happiness. Trick dat fool. Be clever. You are not called ‘Genesis’ for no reason, child.” He sputtered out some saliva as he spoke. He was obviously struggling to stay alive to speak.

(Name) shivered and wrapped the cloak tighter around his disintegrating shoulders. “Please, tell me. What does the demon want?”

A shiver ran through Pierro as his eye glowed a bright pale yellow and spoke through an echoey voice, as if three other versions of him spoke through one tongue. 

.  
.  
“Ī̴͇̩̘͓̬͚̂̄͆͂̂͑͘͢͟ n͙͖̪̺̭̩̉̔̅̒̋̑͜ G̣̘̲̭̦͍̻̯͂͌̀̑͡͡ r̡̨͎͈̱̥̠͑̃̅́́̇̓̑͢͞͡ å̴̧̛͉̤͉̘̠̜̲̉͗̀͗̇̕͢ v̨̛̯̰͙̼̻͐̌̇̕͞͠ ỉ̷͓͇̹̮̳̳̐͊̑̍̀̚ t̷̨̠̻̰̱͖͋̽̔̎́͡͠ y̮͇̻̲̤̍̄̔̿̄̃͗̂͗͢͝ F̸̢̩̹̦͖̭̲̖͕͛͊͑̄̀̌̒̃ ǎ̶̢̗̣̖̫͕̝̳̏͑̌̈̉ l̴̟̜͇̮̹̰̻̍̔̏͌͐̉͠͞ l̷̨̳̞͍̰̳̲̩̔͌̔͋̍̿̕͘͟ ṡ̶͚͔̱͚͍͆̏̐́̀̿̕͜ ,͉̻͉̩̺͓͇͉̽͆̎̂͢͝ “ the wood of the shack groaned and swayed to his last words.

 

“Ȇ̝͈̥͖̖͇̑̍̋̇̔͋̌̕͟ a̗̫̝̼͉͆́͂́͊́̚ r̞̘̘̝͉̥̪̳͆̌̊̀̓̔͛ t̶̞͇̤͎̺̗̱̞͉͂̒̽̈́̀̔̀͂̕ ḩ̵̻̭̰͉̭̻̍͌̓̋̈́̐̈͂̄̋͟ b̶̧͉̫̣̺̟̲̯̈͆̍̾́̐̎̔̀͘͟ͅ e̡̖̳̘̖̲̻̟͂̑̏̂͞ ç̢͍̩̺̩͉͇͖͆͛̓̐̒̇ ớ̴͕̬̟͎̜̑̏̒͘͟ m̹̖̥̰͉̤̫̒̋̂͂͐͗͛̏͟͞ e̢̦͈̫̗̺̩͇͊̄̊̓̐͊ ŝ̴͔͚̹̣̩̝̓͐̉̾͟͢͡ s̰͖̩̠̠̲̬̬̔̉̑̌͘͞͠͝ͅ k̥͖̹̰̳̘̠̍͑̈́̍̎͟͠ y̶̨̛͇̠͎̭̠̤̝̑̋̌͆̇̍̚͢͡,̷̨̯̻̮̦̖͒̂̀̃̌͗̋̓͟ “ (Name) looked around fearfully with wide (e/c) eyes as the 

emblems inside the melon wall ached and wailed in agony as they came to life.

 

“F̨̛͍̫͇̳̝̣̑̃̋̓̀͆̾͢͟͝͡ é̸̢̘͕̖͔͖̓̑̽͂ â̘̝̮͓̮̖̍̓̌̕͟͠ r̴̨̮̟̙̼͖̗̳̅͊̃͊́̐̌͡ t̵̺̱̳͙͈͍̰̟̩̰̃̊͛́̂̿̎̓̔̕ h͚̤̺̹̳͆͑͑́̀͘̕͝ ẹ̬̪̩̰̰͇̖̏̀̒̀̾͋͆̊͘͢ͅ b̶̢̻̠̖̝̥̗̈̄̋͂̀͢͝͡ e̶̡̗̹̖̮̞͌̿̔̆̑͢͞ a̱̫̠̭̲̹͋̅̅̅͛́̑ ş̶͇̟̬͚̭͛̑̑̿̆̄̍ͅ t̨̮̲͉̖̮̠́̾͊͗̓́͆̇ w̩̩̰͎͓̫̑̅̀̑͑͘͞ i̮̣͚̲̹͑͊̂̊̏͌́͗ t̴̞̰͙͚̹̍̀͌̿̚͟͞͞ h͍̖̞̜̱̝͐̇͑̓͝ ,” Pierro shivered and smiled a disturbing, familiar smile.

 

j̠̟̱͈̱̮̙̥͚̀̄̿̔̆́ ū̞͕̤̝̪̭̙̭̝̝̐͌̌͑̾͞ ṡ̷̛͙̝͈̩̫͛̍̆̉̋̉̄̕ t̡͉̭̭̪̫̩̃̈́͐̌̌͆͐̕͢

 

o̴̺̣̘̟̲̖̗̽̂̾̉̄͐̚͢͝͠͡ ṉ̷̘͙̤͍̯̰̳̳͉̋̌̎̓̇̇́ ȩ͇̣̮̯͚̠̑̍̏̿̄̏͐̅̑͘͜͢͟

 

ě̤͙͖͔̹̹̄̿̓̿́͡͡ ȳ̵̛͈̟̱̲͉̞͖̅͋͒̀̿̏̕ e̹̖̗̗̺̪̺̦͑͆̃͛̎̑̒̎̚ͅ

 

The man collapsed in a screamed heaping of blood and groans of pain, and within a blink of an eye, he was gone. (Name) didn’t inhale for a long time, only realizing she was out of breath when she choked for the cold air. She had to escape from this living house of madness. And quick.

Without looking back, the peasant girl shot up and ran down the with the howling wind roaring slowly down the halls. Gasps escaped her as each golden and loving torch blew out when she ran past. The only thing (Name) heard as she flew out of the abode with her empty canister and out into the cold breath of the snowy woods was an echoey laugh that seemed to laugh heartily at her despair and fears.

That laugh…it was him...the king and master of the men in black and red eyes...the demons of the Underworld.

With one last thought to Pierro’s corpse, (Name) ignored the tears running down her face as she escaped the collapsing shack behind her and ran as fast she could to where all good things lead: North.

And he followed her, amused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait :)
> 
> I'll edit another part here, so keep an eye out for it in a few days
> 
> My comp. is about to die x(


	7. Enter and Succumb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait! I had some writer's block, but I knew where my plot was going, I just DON'T wanna type it ungh. But hoho some Jamaicans in Italy? No, these people are Northern Italians. I've heard them speak personally so they speak this way, worry not.
> 
> ENjoy them plot twists!

“Ey! Manchas! I tink we got ahself a littal woman ovah heiyah!”

 

“Ooh, she no look so good,  _ fratello _ .” 

 

“...Ay!  _ Aspetta un secondo, mi fratello _ ! She breathes!”

 

“Quick, quick, lift ah up! Take hah back to Nonna! She will nurse hah back to health.”

  
  


“Mmm…” (Name) groaned. Her lips felt more swollen than usual and a constant shiver ran through her between every four to five seconds. She could not feel most of her body, mostly her toes and fingers, but felt a wool layer wrapped around her neck in a tight embrace, despite it being sore.

 

Opening her eyes with caution, (Name) slowly glanced around her to drink in the environment. Her body was hidden under several layers of cotton, wool and alpaca blankets, reminding her of her childhood when she was nursed by her mother in the winter. Rotating her head to peer outside the window she lay next to, a fierce whirlwind of snow and ice and frost blazed around in a rage, contrasting to the warm, fuzzy atmosphere inside the room.

 

Observing the room once more, (Name) recognized the room’s style to be a peasant's residence of some sort, the ones that stretched out far up North, somewhere near the kingdom. Had she made it this far? Did she ask for hospitality from Death’s icy hands?

 

She did not remember. All she felt was a burning sensation around the base of her finger on her right hand. Weakly looking down, a shining glint caught the girl’s eye when she recognized it as the gift from the demon. What was the moniker he gave again? Racking her poor brain to find an answer, (Name) found that she had none because of the needle-like stinging around her temples.

 

“Ah hah, dat is de ring he gave ye.”

 

The scratchy yet firm voice startled the young woman, forcing her to slowly creak her neck to side to set eyes upon the most deformed woman she had ever seen. Skin sunken in like a crater; horrid moles outstretching on every inch of her body, some adorned with hairs, and some popping up like small hills; her right eyebrow drooped over her lids, giving her a sleepy look; and her lips were cracked and hanging as if they never met the concept of liquid.

 

Her attire was as poor, if not more destitute than, the room she must have been living in. They were smelly, ragged and poor (Name) could not help but feel a strong empathetic tug at her heart. Her guard was up, but her facade was well-played.

 

“How...how--” she struggled to speak, but the old woman silenced her.

 

“Hush now,” Her skeletal hands reached out to pour a mug of hot water, probably melted ice, for the girl’s aching dry throat. (Name) didn’t even try to raise her arm; the ache seeping beneath her sinews there. The woman seemed to know about the girl’s pain and gently raised the cup to her lips, which she parted with weak movements.

 

The boiling water burned her throat, seeping down her esophagus and settling into her stomach. She was so empty. How had she not noticed her hunger? Perhaps she was too busy dying in the cold to pay any attention.

 

“Ungh,” she groaned weakly, but felt a surge of energy and restiveness within her as the water healed her parched throat. The old woman smiled, revealing her cracked lips and a single healthy tooth parting them.

 

“Feel de burn, ya?” she rasped. Putting the cup down with a small soud against the wooden table beside her, the woman proceeded to introduce herself. “De name is Adelina, but you call me Nonna.”

 

Clearing her throat, (Name) looked around her surroundings once more before settling her sleepy eyes over the woman’s form. Nonna was it? She wasn’t sure she heard right.

 

“N...Nonna?” She whispered.

 

“Oh ya, you speak!” Nonna smiled and clapped with crinkling skin. She chuckled drily and struggled to stand with weak bones. (Name) reached out with a hand and felt a strain within her sinews. 

 

“Madam, please, don’t stand.” (Name) asked. “I don’t deserve hospitality like this.”

 

The woman, who was already standing, gave her a look that meant no-nonsense. “No,  _ mi ragazza _ . You need dis foh now. I treat you to health, den you go on yah way.”

 

Sitting back into the covers behind her with an exhausted sigh, (Name) agreed silently. Her eyelids burned when she shut them and her new clothes burned into her back, which was covered in delicate beads of sweat. Once Nonna saw that (Name) had rested her head on the burly blankets, she nodded once and limped out of the adjacent door to the kitchen, where more melted ice was bubbling lightly in a black pot over a fireplace.

 

(Name)’s breathing was steady, her chest slowly rising up and down with her breathing rhythm. Every once in awhile, her body trembled with shivers and the girl slowly turned onto her side, burrowing herself deeper into the alpaca wool. Her eyes fluttered here and there, allowing her body to succumb to a deep sleep.

 

In the kitchen, Nonna stalked over to her sleeping grandson, Manchas, and reached to gently shake him awake. “Ey, ey! Manchas! Up, up, my boy!”

 

The man snorted and sniffed his nose to the side, groaning something incoherent. Nonna frowned, her distorted face scarring her even further. Her jaw hung loose once more as she prepared to yell a bit louder for her grandson to wake when a shiver passed through the room. Nonna glanced around with frail eyes.

 

Nothing. The windows were all secured and tightly locked. Manchas had made sure of it.

 

With a wary glance towards her guest room, Nonna turned back to her sleeping grandson to wake him once more, when a low chuckle resonated through the room. Nonna whipped her head around to find the owner of the laugh, but her cottage was but a two bedroom area. 

 

It wasn’t Manchas. 

 

As Nonna carefully forgot her grandson and crept to the room in which (Name) slept in, her limbs froze. Her breathing halted and paused as she inhaled a gasp. She could barely intake another thought when her feet began to harden into stone and the marble spread across the floors like a virus, sinking its frozen state into the deepest depths of the walls.

 

Manchas’ snoring came to a halt as the diseased stone wrapped around his and his existence. Nonna wasn’t there to save him. She, too, was frozen in place by the stone. The entire cottage went into a state of paralysis as the world slipped into the Mindscape.

 

He who chuckled at Nonna’s shock revealed himself from the wooden doorpost to the guest room. His appearance had changed significantly: his hair was now completely blonde and a bit shaggy, his triangle covered eye now revealed to be a full eye, two shining irises of gold, and his figure a bit more lankier with his black gloves and a similar ring to the one (Name) wore.

 

“Ahh,” he inhaled deeply, musking in the scent of stone all around him, even though he was back in the mindscape. “What a wonderful feeling.”

 

He walked over to Nonna’s shocked figure, still trapped in rock solid marble. He smiled coyly and reached out to tap on her forehead, a small clink resounding from the motion. Nodding in satisfaction, the strange man made his way to the room in which (Name) currently resided in.

 

As he approached her, he laughed lightly and fell on the with a bounce, jolting her figure. She was the only thing in existence not trapped in stone and marble. But he wondered how she would look, her pretty face trapped in agony, her delicate skin chalked in gold, her voice practically begging him to stop whatever torture he had planned for her in the future.

 

He hummed in satisfaction. Thankfully, this body wasn’t as vulnerable to lewd thoughts as the other one, in which he first presented himself to the girl. Within the amount of time he was gone, he had found another beautiful body to keep in his stash of others to seduce the young girl with.

 

He ran his sharp nails, which poked through the gloves, into her hair, weaving those spidery fingers into her silky locks. She emulated a higher amount off body heat than usual. He snorted; the wrench was sick. Sick as a dog and near death. He could feel her soul trying to escape the confinements of her flesh bag.

 

No worries. He’d get it out of her soon enough.

 

The man laid himself onto the woman’s body, hugging it and becoming one with it. He inhaled once, the breath becoming echoey and resonating throughout the entire room. Both bodies began to glow with a weak torch of blue flames and the woman’s face slowly healed. Even in slumber, she felt her bones being renewed and her muscles revived. They no longer felt numb.

 

“ _ Ingressus paulisper _ ,” the man whispered, but to the world, it came as a cackling yell. “Enter and succumb.”

 

As he gazed as the woman’s face, (Name) subconsciously squirmed under his stare, piercing into the depths of her mind. “You shall never forget my name,  _ bambola _ . I shall make sure of that.”

 

And with one more breath, Bill’s body sank into her own, ultimately freezing the girl and sinking into her mindscape. A blue mark, the delta, implanted itself onto her forehead when his existence fooled to meet her own. Her mind would be forever his.

  
Foolish, foolish (Name).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm, my writing DID get better. Maybe I should post another chapter for my other fic, Hellish Pearls of the Devil....what do you guys think? >__>


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